Community/Good Relations Resources

Questions on Community/Good Relations were asked in the Northern Ireland Life and Times (NILT) Survey in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Further questions on Identity were asked in the NILT Identity module in 2007.
Questions on Respect were asked in NILT in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.Questions on Languages were asked in NILT in 2025.

Questions on Community Relations/Good Relations were asked of 16 year olds in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 2019, 2020-21, 2022 , 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Questions on Community safety and perceptions of paramiltary influence were asked in the NILT Survey and the YLT survey.

Questions on Respect were asked of 10-11 year olds in the Kids' Life and Times (KLT) in 2016 and 2025.

ARK Resources

• Words Matter. Attitudes to the Irish language and Ulster-Scots (Research Update 172) by Aisling O'Boyle, Lorna Carson and Paula Devine, is based on data from the 2025 NILT survey.
• Children’s and young people’s understandings and experiences of respect and disrespect (Research Update 170), by Rosie Adams, Grace Allison, Cara Kerlin, Demilade Olu-Sholanke and the RADICAL team, uses data from the 22025 KLT and YLT surveys.
• Respect in Northern Ireland: Exploring understandings, perceptions and feelings of respect (Research Update 159), by Montserrat Fargas-Malet, Siobhán McAlister, Bronagh Byrne, Claire Cassidy, Mary-Louise Corr, Amy Hanna, Mark Linden, Laura Lundy, Alison MacKenzie, Gail Neill and Dirk Schubotz, uses data from the 2018 and 2023 NILT survey.
• Understanding the persistence of armed/paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland is a research report published in 2024, and written by Brendan Sturgeon, Duncan Morrow, Lucy Geddes, Dominic Bryan, Siobhán McAlister, Claire Hazelden and Peter Sheridan.
• Northern Ireland Peace Monitoring Report - A team led by ARK produced the Fifth and Sixth Peace Monitoring Reports which chart peace, political and social policy in Northern Ireland.
• In 2023, the first ARK/Conflict Textiles exhibition focused on identity.
• Methods for assessing demand for integrated education - ARK undertook this project in 2023, funded by the Integrated Education Fund
• Location matters? Young people and good relations (Research Update 140) by Martina McKnight and Paula Devine explores data from the 2019 NILT survey.
• Good relations: an urban issue? (Research Update 139) by Paula Devine and Martina McKnight, focuses on data from the 2019 NILT survey.
• Changing identities in Northern Ireland (Research Update 138) by Paula Devine, uses NILT data from 1998 to 2018 to explore changing patterns of identities over the past 20 years.
• Examining the 3 P’s: Personal Safety, Paramilitaries and Policing (Research Update 135) by Colm Walsh, focuses on data on community safety and perceptions of paramilitarism from the 2017, 2018 and 2019 NILT and YLT surveys.
• Changes in national and religious identity of 16 year olds over time (Research Update 132) by Charlotte Bradley is based on data from the Young Life and Times surveys. You can view a video of Charlotte talking about this publication.
• A sense of belonging (Research Update 126) by Paula Devine and Dirk Schubotz, is based on data from 2017 Northern Ireland Life and Times and Young Life and Times surveys.
• 20 years of good relations policy and attitudes (Research Update 123) by Paula Devine and Gillian Robinson, uses data from 1998 to 2017.
• Community Relations/Good Relations in Northern Ireland? (ARK Feature 5) by Gillian Robinson explores data on community relations from 1989 to 2016.
• In their own words: young people's attitudes to community relations in Northern Ireland (Research Update 117) by Grace Kelly uses data from open-ended questions within the Young Life and Times Survey
• Bonfires, flags, identity and cultural traditions (Research Update 119) by Gillian Robinson and Paula Devine is based on data from the 2016 Life and Times Survey
• Taking Stock. Attitudes to community relations and a shared future among the first post-conflict generation in Northern Ireland (Research Update 111) by Dirk Schubotz uses data from the Young Life and Times survey, as well as the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey
• A tale of two cities? Community relations in Northern Ireland (Research Update 110) by Máire Braniff, is based on data from the 2015 Life and Times survey.
• Mixed messages: community relations in 2014 (Research Update 105) by Duncan Morrow, explores the findings of the 2014 Life and Times survey.
• Shared and Safe? An update on Good Relations policy and public attitudes (Research Update 90) by Paula Devine explores data from the 2012 Life and Times survey.
• The Long View of Community Relations in Northern Ireland: 1989-2012, is a project which analysed data from the 1989-1996 Northern Ireland Social Attitudes survey and the 1989-2012 Northern Ireland LIfe and Times Survey. Two publications by Duncan Morrow, Gillian Robinson and Lizanne Dowds are available: a research report, and a research update.
• Into the mix (Research Update 83) by Paula Devine, explores cross-community contact using data from the 2012 Young Life and Times Survey.
• Shared Education: Views of Children and Young People (Research Update 82) by Katrina Lloyd is based on data from the 2012 Young Life and Times Survey and the 2012 Kids' Life and Times Survey.
• Community Relations, Equality and Diversity in Education (ARK Occasional Paper), by Paula Devine, uses data from the 2012 Young LIfe and Times Survey.
• No more 'us and them' for 16 year olds? (Research Update 79) by Paula Devine and Gillian Robinson, explores the attitudes of 16 years using data from the 2011 Young Life and Times Survey.
• An Age of Change?: Community relations in Northern Ireland (Research Update 72) by Paula Devine, Gráinne Kelly and Gillian Robinson, uses attitudinal data from 1989 to 2009.
• Beyond gross divisions: national and religious identity combinations (Research Update 58) by Orla Muldoon, Niamh McNamara, Paula Devine and Karen Trew, uses data from the Identity module in the 2007 Life and Times Survey.
• Cross-Community Schemes: Participation, motivation, mandate. Final Project Report, by Dirk Schubotz and Claire McCartan with Aaron McDaid, Brona McIntyre, Felicity McKee, Maria McManus, Sinead O'Kelly, Ashleigh Roberts and Laura Whinnery
• Cross-Community Schemes: Participation, motivation, mandate (Research Update 55) by Dirk Schubotz and Claire McCartan with Aaron McDaid, Brona McIntyre, Felicity McKee, Maria McManus, Sinead O'Kelly, Ashleigh Roberts and Laura Whinnery
• Intimate Mixing - Bridging the Gap? Catholic-Protestant Relationships in Northern Ireland (Research Update 54) by Katrina Lloyd and Gillian Robinson, uses data from the 1998-2005 Life and Times Surveys.
• Cross community integration and mixing: does it make a difference? (Research Update 43) by Dirk Schubotz and Gillian Robinson, uses data from the Young Life and Times Survey.
• In Search of the Middle Ground: Integrated Education and Northern Ireland Politics (Research Update 42) by Bernadette C Hayes, Ian McAllister and Lizanne Dowds, uses data from the 1998-2003 Life and Times Survey, as well as 1998 and 2003 Election Surveys.
• What Now? (Research Update 34) by Dirk Schubotz and Paula Devine, is based on data from the 2004 Young Life and Times survey
• Us and Them? (Research Update 28) by Paula Devine and Dirk Schubotz, is based on data from the 2003 Young Life and Times survey
• Community Relations in Northern Ireland: The Long View, by Joanne Hughes, Caitlin Donnelly, Gillian Robinson and Lizanne Dowds, Occasional Paper 2, March 2003
• Ten Years of Social Attitudes to Community Relations in Northern Ireland, by Joanne Hughes and Caitlin Donnelly, Occasional Paper 1, August 2001
• Social Activity and Interaction in Northern Ireland (Research Update 10) by Brendan Murtagh
  
• Integrate or Segregate? Ten Years of Social Attitudes to Community Relations in Northern Ireland (Research Update 9) by Joanne Hughes and Caitlin Donnelly
• CAIN (Conflict Archive on the Internet) is a comprehensive archive of information on politics and the conflict in Northern Ireland.
  
• Read recommendations for the future in Improving Community Relations by Hugh Frazer and Mari Fitzduff.
• CAIN includes information on the Northern Ireland Social Attitudes Survey, including the full text of book chapters which used results from the Community Relations questions.
• An Introduction to Symbols used in Northern Ireland can be found on CAIN.
• Cross-Community Marriage in Northern Ireland, by Gillian Robinson, reports on a study involving 79 interviews undertaken in 1992.
• The Qualitative Archive on the Conflict has collated information about qualitative material covering the 35 year span of 'the Troubles' in NI into a single catalogue.

Links

• The Department of Justice have released several reports based on NILT and YLT data on perceptions of paramilitarism, including Perceptions of Paramilitarism in Northern Ireland: Findings from the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey and Perceptions of Paramilitarism in Northern Ireland: Findings from the Young Life and Times Survey.
• Good Relations and Social Change is part of the remit of The Executive Office.
• Data from the Northern Ireland Life and Times and Young Life and Times Surveys form part of the Good Relations Indicators published by The Executive Office.
• The Community Relations Council was set up to promote better community relations between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland and, equally, to promote recognition of cultural diversity. Visit their website for details of their services and information.

Maintained by Paula Devine;